Christian Löffler with Hammer Hype

Westword Presents

Christian Löffler’s art is heavily inspired by his environment. He lives and works, both as a painter and musician, in the remote Darss Peninsula in Germany’s north-east and his atelier can be found within a rustic log cabin surrounded by overgrown wilderness over-looking the Baltic Sea. The area has provided him with the solitude necessary for his highly introspective work, while at the same time influencing him via its rugged landscapes in a continuous creative dialogue between artist and nature.

Following his debut in 2012, A Forest, Löffler launches his second album Mare in 2017. Every bit of his environment can be felt, and literally heard in Mare, which is based on the field-recordings of his atelier.

Named after the town he resides in, Graal (Prologue), contains music that was created in a period where Löffler was constantly away on tour – sketches of melodies written on the road. The resulting six tracks on the album have a minimal and focused feel, given by the back-to-basics approach Löffler took when working on these rough ideas. It was followed by Lys, which serves as a sequel and contrast to Graal, its predecessor. The idea is for the whole project to have an organic dichotomy – while Graal was created on the road (Löffler likens it to a travel diary), the follow up is a classic studio album, created in his home recording space.